This invention relates to methods of folding outserts which have printed information, such as instructions and/or warnings, relating to pharmaceutical products.
Outserts are used to convey information to purchasers and users of pharmaceutical products. The information printed on an outsert typically includes instructions for use of a pharmaceutical product and medical warnings relating to the product. The outsert typically accompanies the product, such as by being affixed directly to the container in which the pharmaceutical product is provided or by being enclosed within a cardboard carton in which the pharmaceutical container is packaged.
FIG. 1A illustrates an example of an outsert 10 constructed in accordance with the prior art which has open edges 12 about its periphery. Under certain circumstances, the open edges 12 of the outsert will tend to cause bottlenecks, or other manufacturing yield problems, with respect to the overall high-speed manufacturing environment that is associated with manufacturing the outsert, or with respect to the specific in-line packaging equipment that is utilized.
A method of forming outserts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,195 to Michael Vijuk. In that patent, outserts are manufactured by folding a relatively long sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the length of the sheet and then cutting the folded sheet a number of times in a direction perpendicular to the folding direction to make a number of individual outserts. The result of the folding and cutting steps is a "ribbon" style outsert like the one shown in FIG. 1B.
FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional ribbon style outsert 14 constructed in accordance with the prior art and which has limited copyspace due to its overall shape, design and method of manufacture. The outsert 14 has a tail portion 16 which, prior to opening of the outsert by the purchaser of the associated pharmaceutical product, is glued to an interior portion of the outsert. The tail portion 16 consists of a single sheet having an unfolded, exterior sheet edge which lies in a direction parallel to the folding direction.
Increasing the length of a ribbon style outsert will increase manufacturing yield problems in a high-speed manufacturing environment (that is associated with the manufacturing the outsert) as the thickness of the outsert increases and the number of folds with a thicker outsert are attempted, all of which will tend to cause bottlenecks with respect to the dedicated or particular in-line folding and packaging equipment that is utilized during the manufacturing of the outsert.
The invention is directed to a method of producing a folded item having printed information thereon to provide information about a product. The method includes the steps of: (a) forming a first folded article having a first end, a second end, a length along a first direction, and a width along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first folded article having a plurality of first elongate sheet portions and a plurality of second elongate sheet portions. Each of the first elongate sheet portions has a first end and a second end, each of the second elongate sheet portions has a first end and a second end, and each of the first ends of the first elongate sheet portions are joined to a respective one of the first ends of the second elongate sheet portions at a respective fold coinciding with the first end of the first folded article so that the first end of the first folded article has no exterior unfolded sheet edges.
The method also includes the step of (b) folding the first folded article by making a transverse fold in the first folded article to form a second folded article. The second folded article has a first end and a second end, and the transverse fold in the first folded article is parallel to the second direction and is made so that the second end of the first folded article is disposed between the first end of the second folded article and the second end of the second folded article. The transverse fold is made at a point along the length of the first folded article that is spaced from the second end of the first folded article by a distance equal to approximately one-third of the length of the first folded article.
The method also includes the step of (c) making a transverse fold in the second folded article in a direction parallel to the second direction to form the folded item. The transverse fold in the second folded article is made so that the second end of the first folded article is covered by one of the sheet portions of the folded item and so that the folded item has no exterior unfolded sheet edges that lie in a direction parallel to the second direction. The transverse fold in the second folded article is made at a point approximately equidistant between the first end of the second folded article and the second end of the second folded article.
The invention is also directed to articles folded in accordance with the above methods.